The government has fined Thermomix $4.6 Million for failing to report a number of burn injuries caused by its top of the line heating blender.

Vorwerk produced the TM31 model model from 2004 through 2014, retailing for around $2,000 in Australia.  The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) logged numerous complaints of people being burned by hot liquid when the units burst open. 

The law states that companies must report deaths or injuries caused by their products within 48 hours of the complaint.  But the ACCC says Thermomix in Australia was initially alerted to problems in July 2014, but did not notify customers about a recall until September 2014 - in a Facebook post.  The company sold another $16 Million worth of TM31s during that gap.

Thermomix in Australia sought guidance from its German parent company Vorwerk, but "made the deliberate decision not to inform the relevant consumers of the safety issue" according to Justice Bernard Murphy.  The company was also found in the wrong by telling consumers its products were safe despite the burn injuries to nine women and one child, and even told some that they were not entitled to refunds.